The Detroit Pistons haven’t had the ultimate dream offseason that fans were hoping for, but they have made some improvements to the roster while leaving themselves flexible for the future.
Detroit has been connected in some recent trade rumors, and could still make additional moves to balance their roster, as they currently have a lot of centers and guards, without available minutes for all of them.
Roster depth is not a bad thing, but having $25 million tied up in two backup centers, one of whom might not even be in the rotation, is not the most efficient use of funds.
The Pistons still have open roster spots, one full-time and one two-way, so could swing another trade or look to fill those spots with available free agents.
Here are some potential players, ranging from higher priced guys that would require additional moves, to potential two-way players who would be developmental projects.
Let’s start with the two-way guys.
Detroit Pistons: Players for the final two-way contract
Next season will be the first time that teams can carry three two-way contracts. The Pistons made two of theirs official yesterday with the signings of Jared Rhoden and Malcolm Cazalon, so have one spot remaining.
There could be hundreds of players on this list, pretty much any guy who didn’t sign to an NBA roster, but I’ll focus on ones that were on the Pistons Summer League roster:
- Tosan Evbuomwan: My favorite to make the roster, the French forward had the highest plus/minus of any Piston during the Summer League. He’s a glue guy who can defend and pass.
- Buddy Boeheim: Pistons’ fans might revolt if Boeheim is on the roster again next season. He did start shooting the ball much better as last season wound down, so unfortunately, you can’t rule him out.
- Stanley Umude: One of last year’s two-way guys, Umude played a whopping one game with the Pistons last season. He did average over 15 ppg in the G-League and shot 38 percent from long range on 6.4 attempts per game, so he might be worth a longer look.
- Nate Roberts: Roberts played sparingly in Summer League, so is a long shot, but he is a big 6-foot-11 power forward who does play a position Detroit lacks in their pipeline. He can’t shoot, so that may be a non-starter.
There’s a very good chance the Pistons fill this spot with a player who played for another team in Summer League but didn’t get a deal.